Trends in Technology

With Adobe backing down from Flash by no longer supporting it in mobile browsers, developers are looking for more supported platforms. I’ve been looking into SVG and the HTML Canvas element for a while.

Both are interesting and deserve a lot of research. Right now I’m more interested in SVG. SVG stands for Scalable . . . → Read More: SVG – The Web’s Display PostScript?

In every project, there’s a what and a how.  The what consists of the functional features, the things the app or product should do.  The how is the way in which the project is implemented.

In a pure web app, the success or failure of what-oriented features can (and should) be determined solely by interaction with the . . . → Read More: Fixed Price Project Economics

Read the previous post for more context, but in short our cat vomited on my wife’s laptop and Apple refused to fix it, even for money, because they deemed it a “biohazard”.  Here’s the update.

The Apple Store people were really sorry about our laptop and were helpful to the extent they could be.  They gave us . . . → Read More: Update on Apple and Pet Vomit

Check out the letter I just sent to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Before you do, remember that I actually like Apple a lot and use their products constantly (even though I’ve moved away from the iPhone). But this is just too unbelievable:

My wife just took a very fancy and expensive laptop to the Apple . . . → Read More: Apple: Got pets? Don’t buy our products.

Dana Blankenhorn, a ZDNN columnist who normally has a lot of good things to say, really got it wrong this time. And apparently he’s taking the response personally. But support or opposition to FRAND is not personal. FRAND and software patents are a critical threat to open-source software. Those who support FRAND . . . → Read More: Why FRAND is evil

Cruising through the web, I happened across an article on Tante’s Blog, hailing back to the good old days of language trolldom. The article condemns the open-source and distributed alternative to Facebook known as Diaspora. Why? Because it uses Rails.

The idea here is that Rails is bad because it uses gems. What, . . . → Read More: Rails Fail? Really?

Apple recently made some moves that, while not perfect, do challenge the Android platform.  As of 9/9/2010, developers can use any toolchain they wish to create App Store apps, as long as the program doesn’t download code.  And the app approval process became more transparent, with published guidelines.

This is good, because as reported on this blog, . . . → Read More: Apple opening up? Or meet the new boss, same as the old boss?

A recent Fortune Magazine article indicates that Android phones are outselling the iPhone.

Wasn’t that fast? Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in January 2007, and Android was open-sourced in October 2008, giving Apple a nearly two-year lead time.  Any time you read in the press about Apple’s success with the iOS platform (iPhones or iPads), remember . . . → Read More: Mac Versus PC Redux

Is the eFuse really about security? Or is it really about control? . . . → Read More: Droid X and the eFuse

The lead momentum players in the smartphone field today are Android and Apple.  RIM lost its position as the leader when the iPhone came out, and they have been stagnant since then.

Now comes Blackberry 6.  Cool, eh? Packed with innovative features like a touch interface, universal search, an MP3 player, built-in social networking software….

Er, wait . . . → Read More: Blackberry 6 playing catch-up